Charting WWII oil spill potential

The common perception is that during World War II, Japanese forces came nowhere the American western coastline. To a large extent, that is true. However, it is not entirely true, as we are reminded by the launch this week of an oil recovery program for an oil tanker sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Cambria, Calif., in 1941.

The SS Montebello was the target of a Japanese torpedo, and the result was a ship 900 feet below the surface, with the oil intact. Seven decades later, the 440-foot ship — and its oil — are still there.

Divers accompanied by a remotely operated underwater vehicle are aiming to ascertain whether the oil is in danger of spilling out of the ship. Scientists think that the oil would be very thick after so long in the ship's hold, but they're not taking any chances. The divers will drill a 1-inch-diameter hold into a couple of the oil tanks and extract samples that scientists will analyze, before deciding on further action, which include a recovery operation.

The publicity is a far cry from what accompanied the sinking. The U.S. Military hushed up the incident. All 38 people onboard were rescued and (presumably) sworn to secrecy. The U.S. Government did not confirm knowledge of the incident until many years later.

Now, though, the priority is preventing a big oil spill.